Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to an aroma cartridge player, each cartridge of which holds a planar array of frame assemblies capable of selectively exuding different aromatic fragrances, and in particular to a player of this type in which the selection of aromas may be effected manually or caused to follow the scenes of a video or film presentation.
As used herein, the term "aroma" is not limited to pleasant or savory smells, but encompasses scents, some of which may be unpleasant, that act to condition, modify, or otherwise charge the atmosphere.
The aroma of perfumes and perfume-based products such as colognes and toilet waters was originally derived from the essential oils of plants. However, since the early 19th century, chemists have succeeded in analyzing many essential oils and in creating thousands of synthetics, some simulating natural products and others yielding altogether new scents. Perfumes today are largely blends of natural and synthetic scents and of fixatives which equalize vaporization and enhance pungency. In most liquid scents, the ingredients are combined with alcohol.
The relationship of aromas to emotions and moods is well established. Thus, the antiseptic aroma which typically pervades a hospital is known to have a depressing effect on both patients and visitors, while the smell of a skunk is repellent to animals and human beings. On the other hand, an aggreeable odor, such as that produced by a sea breeze or by certain foods as they are being cooked, are pleasantly stimulating.
In order to exploit this interaction between aromas and human responses, attempts have heretofore been made to create a movie, called a "smellie" in which aromas are synchronized with the action. Thus in a romantic scene, the aroma then generated in the theatre could be a seductive feminine fragrance; whereas in a movie scene showing a wooden structure on fire, an odor suggestive of burning wood can then be exuded.
The "smellie" concept has not been successfully realized in practice, mainly because of the practical difficulty of subjecting all members of a theatre audience to a particular odor while a given scene is being played and supplanting this odor with a very different odor when shifting to a new scene.
Thus, in the example given above, should a romantic scene be relatively brief and be followed by a fire of longer duration, the first problem faced by the "Smellie" system is how, while the first scene is being played, to subject the audience to a romantic fragrance before this scene is concluded, and the second problem is how to erase this fragrance so that it does not run into the fire scene where it is clearly inappropriate.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,059, whose entire disclosure is incorporated herein, there is disclosed an aroma generator in which a liquid fragrance impregnates a porous pad that is placed over an opening in an otherwise enclosed housing having an electrical heater therein. When the heater is energized, it acts to heat and expand the air confined in the housing to create a pressure differential between the heated air in the housing and the atmosphere, this differential functioning to force the heated air through the pad to rapidly volatilize the liquid and exude an aromatic vapor into the atmosphere.
The present invention includes a similar aroma generator, but in conjunction with a multi-aroma cartridge capable of selectively exuding many different aromas.